A SENIOR member of Congress sees the Philippines losing fewer mothers and newborns as a result of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s decision to give supplemental cash assistance to pregnant and lactating women under the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

“The additional targeted cash aid ordered by Malacañang will go a long way in improving the health and well-being of extremely vulnerable Filipino mothers and their newborns,” House of Representatives Minority Leader Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan said in a statement on Sunday.

“Right now, we are losing six to seven Filipino women every day – mostly from poor households – on account of complications from pregnancy or childbirth,” Libanan, a 4Ps party-list representative, said.

“We are also losing 14 newborns per 1,000 live births due to premature birth complications, congenital anomalies and infections,” Libanan added.

Libanan urged the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to include the funding for the extra cash grants in the 2025 general appropriations bill that the President is expected to submit to Congress within 30 days from the opening of the regular session on July 22.

Libanan is a member of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) that provides policy advice to the President on vital issues affecting the country’s socioeconomic development.

Marcos ordered the add-on cash transfers to mothers, particularly within the first 1,000 days of their newborns, in a recent sectoral meeting, according to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO).

“The fresh cash aid will give more meaning and substance to the 4Ps as the government’s flagship human capital and social development program,” Libanan said.

Libanan said he is counting on the new cash subsidy to help the Philippines achieve key 2030 global social development goals set by the United Nations (UN).

The UN wants to reduce the global maternal mortality rate to less than 70 per 100,000 live births, and lower the newborn (under a month old) mortality rate to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births.

The 4Ps has an allocation of P106.3 billion in the 2024 General Appropriations Law.

The program currently provides household-beneficiaries:

• P300 per month per child for 10 months per year for every child in day care or elementary school;

• P500 per month per child for 10 months per year for every child in junior high school;

• P700 per month per child for 10 months per year for every child in senior high school; and

• P750 per month for 12 months in family health and nutrition assistance.

The program also provides a P600 monthly rice subsidy in cash.